Posted October 21, 2014

See the daily excerpt from the preparatory catechesis for the 2015 World Meeting of Families, “Love is Our Mission: The Family Fully Alive.”

31. In like manner, Christian love involves much more than emotion. It includes the erotic and affective, but it is also a choice. Love is a mission that we receive, a disposition that we accept, a summons to which we submit. This kind of love has dimensions we discover as we yield to it. This kind of love seeks and follows God, whose covenant fidelity teaches what love is. God never discards Israel for a more appealing partner. Nor is he deterred by rejection. He is never fickle. He wills only the best, the true and ultimate good for his people. And while his love for Israel is passionate with desire — no one reading the prophets can deny that — this “erotic” aspect to divine love is always leavened with God’s sacrificial fidelity. God’s eros always integrates with his compassion and patience.

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In its introduction, the document says its aim is to present “Catholic teaching in a way that is fresh, insightful, and accessible to contemporary Catholics and all people of good will.” The catechesis “offers a narrative beginning with our creation, soberly noting our fall and the challenges we face, but emphasizing God’s plan for our salvation. Love is our mission, and it is by loving God and one another that we will be fully alive.”

Each day in CatholicPhilly.com’s World Meeting of Families section you can reflect on the official Catholic teaching on the family presented in the catechesis, pray a special prayer together as a family or individually, and stay on top of breaking news about the events coming Sept. 22-27, 2015.

Order the catechesis for your home via Our Sunday Visitor, and visit WorldMeeting2015.org for more information on the events.

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